Remarks by the President at "People for Pete" Dinner in Honor of Senator Pete Domenici
Sheraton Old Town Hotel
Albuquerque, New Mexico

6:05 P.M. MDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very
much. Thank you all very much. Be seated,
please. Thank you all very much for that warm New Mexican
welcome. Gosh, we've had a great day in Albuquerque -- haven't we,
Pete. We've had a great day. It's really fun to
travel with such a decent man around your important
city. I'm really glad I came. No better way to
end it than to urge the good folks of New Mexico to send this good man
back to the United States Senate. (Applause.)

I appreciate Congresswoman Heather Wilson
for being here. We need to send her back, too, by the
way. (Applause.) She's plenty
capable. So is my friend, Joe Skeen. I'm honored
that Joe came up and worked today with us, as
well. (Applause.) I want to thank your Lt.
Governor and all the state officials who joined us today. I
particularly want to thank Bill Kelleher and John Dendahl for their
leadership of our party.

I want to thank my friend, Ken -- where
are you, Kenny? Thank you so much for your leadership on
this event, and thank you for your friendship. You've done a great
job. (Applause.) Cheryl Smith, Rick Alvarez, I
want to thank you all for setting up this event. And I want
to thank each and every one of you for contributing to Pete's
reelection. It's really important that you've done so.

Like you, I can't believe anybody would
dare run against him. (Laughter.) But somebody might be
foolish enough to. In which case, we need to send the
message that when you get a good, decent man representing an important
state, send him back in Washington, keep him in Washington.
(Applause.)

The thing I've learned about Pete
Domenici, he's a man of great passion. He's a passionate
person. He's passionate about subjects that are dear to his
heart. He's a national leader, along with his beautiful
wife, in mental health. It's an important
issue. (Applause.) And by the way, we both
married pretty darn well. (Laughter.) I'm sorry
my wife isn't here. She's holding down the fort in Crawford,
Texas. I like to tell people that I love my new address, but
I also love my home. It's important never to forget where
you came from. I came from Texas. I will serve my
time in Washington and I'll return back to
Texas. (Applause.)

Pete's passionate on
research. He's passionate about research in New Mexican
laboratories. Trust
me. (Laughter.) He's been to the Oval Office a
lot. (Laughter.) By the way, it's important to
have a senator who can come into the Oval Office representing your
state. You want a senator who will have the President return
his phone calls. (Applause.)

He talks about making sure New Mexico
stays on the leading edge of important research. And you've
got a President who's listening to him, by the
way. (Applause.) Pete is passionate about the
budget. He's brought fiscal sanity to Washington,
D.C. You see, the tendency in Washington is to want to
overspend. Sometimes people forget up there, they're not
spending the government's money, they're spending the people's
money. And Pete is a fiscal watchdog for the taxpayers'
money. (Applause.)

Pete is passionate about his
family. It's important to have a person in Washington, D.C.
who loves his family. As a matter of fact, there's nothing
more important for America than family. Pete personifies
family. Pete loves the people of New Mexico. He's
passionate about the people of New Mexico, like he's passionate about
the state of New Mexico. It's important to have a passionate
American representing your state.

But he's also more than
that. He's a man of enormous dignity and
integrity. And this nation needs more leaders that set good
examples for our young, like Pete Domenici. (Applause.)

I've got a selfish reason for getting him
back up there. I need his
help. (Laughter.) We're working on some important
agenda items for the American people and we're making good
progress. But there is more to do.

You know, when I went up to Washington, I
was a little disturbed at the tone that was taking place. I
can remember sitting in Austin, Texas, being perplexed and disturbed by
the rancor and the bitterness that seemed to have constantly gripped
our Nation's Capital. And I made a determined effort to go
change the tone. We can disagree in Washington, but we
should do so in a respectful way. We need to respect each
other more. We need to hold up the American people more than
we hold up our own political parties, it seems like to me, to get some
things done. And we're making good
progress. (Applause.)

One of the areas where we're making good
progress is the budget -- it is to say to the American people through
our budget, we're going to be responsible with your
money. As Pete mentioned, we've inherited some
problems. But what the heck, I like to solve
problems. That's my job. And one of the problems we
inherited was an economy that was sputtering along and slowing
down. And one way to make sure that we kick-start our
economy is to give people their money back. And so we
campaigned on, argued for, and I had the honor of signing in the White
House the largest tax reduction in a generation. (Applause.)

It was necessary. And it's the
right thing to do. You'll hear them screaming up in
Washington, oh, we're running out of money. Well, that's
because they want to spend every single dime that ever gets up there.
You'll hear people say, well, the surplus is going away because of the
tax cut. No, folks, the economy is slowing down, which means
we have less projected money. And that's why we needed tax
relief. Money back to people are going to help kick-start
this economy.

And I want to remind you of
something. We still have the largest surplus -- second
largest surplus in the nation's history. And we're still
paying down more debt than ever paid down before in our nation's
history. (Applause.) And the tax relief plan was eminently
fair.

See, it used to be up there in Washington
they'd say, well, we're going to pick and choose the winners and losers
when it came to tax relief. You get tax relief, you don't get tax
relief. The attitude of Senator Domenici and myself and the
members of the congressional delegation who are here said, if we're
going to have tax relief, let's provide tax relief for everybody who
pays taxes. And that's the fair way to do
it. It's a responsible, fair tax
program. (Applause.)

We also sent a clear message to small
business owners and farmers and ranchers when we said, we need to get
rid of the death tax. The death tax is unfair to people who
have built up a business. The death tax is unfair to the
small business owner who wants to leave a business to a son or a
daughter. The death tax is unfair because we're taxing
entrepreneurs and producers twice in America. The tax code
not only reduced all rates and provided tax rebates, it also got rid of
the onerous death tax, which is going to make the code more fair and
more responsible.

Now, we're going to have a fight over the
budget coming up. And fortunately, we've got a good man
named Domenici who is going help fight off the big
spenders. (Applause.) They will push for more
money here, and they'll push for more money there. But I
want to remind you, the growth in the budget that Pete passed out of
the Senate, and was concurred by both the Senate and the House,
provides responsible growth in our budget. And I can assure,
Mr. Chairman -- or I wish would be Mr. Chairman -- (laughter) -- should
be Mr. Chairman, and will be Mr. Chairman after next 2002 -- (applause)
-- and I want the members of Congress to hear that once we set a budget
we're going to stick by it. And if not, I'm going to use the
veto pen of the President of the United States to keep fiscal sanity in
Washington, D.C. (Applause.)

Today we had the pleasure of going to an
elementary school, the first day of school. Gosh, it was
exhilarating to shake hands with the 1st graders and the 2nd graders
that were just showing up. Their mothers and dads were
thrilled to get them back in school, it seemed
like. (Laughter.) The teachers were great. They
were all excited. And my message to the folks assembled
there was this: that education is a domestic priority of
mine. I know it's one of Pete's, as well. It's so
important we get it right in America that every child gets educated.

We passed a good bill out of the House and
a good bill out of the Senate. And I hope they don't play
politics with it. They need to get the conference committee,
get the bill resolved and get it on my desk. And let me
explain to you some of the principles involved in the education bill.

First, it trusts the local folks to run
the schools. I strongly believe in local control of our
schools. I believe we need to pass more power and
flexibility and authority out of Washington to the folks in
Albuquerque, New Mexico. (Applause.) The bill does that.

There's some wonderful programs in the
bill. One of them is a reading initiative that my wife is
all involved in and I'm passionate about. I'll never forget
the phrase of Phyllis Hunter in Houston,
Texas. She stood up in front of a large crowd of people and
she said, you know, Governor -- and I was governor then -- she said,
Governor, reading is the new civil right. I believe that. I
believe reading is a civil right. I believe when you can
learn to read, then you can learn, and then you can access the American
Dream.

The sad thing is too many of our children
can't read. And I intend to do something about
it. Not only have we targeted money for diagnostic tools to
make sure we determine whether or not young children have got problems
that we correct, early, before it's too late; we've got teacher
training money, we've got intervention money. But the core
of the education bill is accountability. The core of the
education bill says that if you receive any taxpayer's money, you must
measure. You must show us whether or not children are
reading and writing and adding and subtracting. (Applause.)

Now, I know there's a lot of -- oh, you
hear all kinds of arguments about whether or not that should take
place. Some will say, well, you can't measure because it
means there's too much government. My attitude about that
is, is that if we're spending taxpayers' money it seems like we want to
know whether or not it's working. It seems like it makes
sense to ask the question, what are the results. And there's
no more important place to ask, what are the results, than whether or
not the children of the United States can read or write or add and
subtract.

And then there are those who say, on the
accountability system, it is racist to test. Folks, I'm
going to tell you as plainly as I can, it's racist not to test, because
guess who gets left behind in a system where there's no
accountability. (Applause.) It is so easy to quit
on a child whose parents do not speak English as a first
language. It's so easy to walk into a classroom full of the
so-called hard to educate and say, let's don't test, let's just move
people through.

We cannot have a system that doesn't hold
each child is precious. And so the cornerstone of reform
coming out of Washington, D.C. is more money, focused money, but as
well, the demand for strong accountability, so that we can praise the
teachers and principals and superintendents who are getting it right,
but as importantly, blow the whistle on failure when we find children
trapped in schools that won't teach and won't change. There
are no second-rate children in America and no second-rate dreams.
(Applause.)

Pete mentioned we're making progress in
bringing some sanity to America when it comes to an energy
policy. This country has drifted along without an energy
policy. And we laid out a good, constructive
plan. It's a plan that says we can do a better job of
conserving our resources. And the federal government is
beginning to take a role. We're making sure that we purchase
vampire defeating devises. A vampire is a devise like a
charger for a telephone. When you plug it into a wall and
your phone may not be in there, but the charger is, it still eats a lot
of electricity -- or more than it should.

Some entrepreneurs came along and invented
a devise that uses seven times less energy. So we're going
to start using those devises to set the example that we can do a better
job of using technology to save.

But California is the state that's got the
best conservation record in the country. And yet, they ran
out of energy. (Laughter.) Now, one of the things
they're doing is they're building 12 more power plants. And
that's great, and our government has helped them, we've expedited the
permitting of the plants. Those plants are going to require
natural gas to power them. And we've got to get the gas from
somewhere. And so, on the one hand, we need better
conservation. On the other hand, we need more exploration
for the resources. I'd like us to be less dependent on
foreign sources of energy. I think it's going to make our
foreign policy a lot more -- (applause.)

Washington has been struggling with what
they call patients' bill of rights for the last couple of
sessions. I made up my mind we're going to get a good
patients' bill of rights out of the Congress, one that heralds the
relationship between patient and doctor, but one that doesn't encourage
frivolous and junk lawsuits that will cause people to lose their health
insurance.

We got a good bill out of the House, a not
so good bill out of the Senate. And I'm hopeful we can get
-- finally get a good patients' bill of rights to begin meaningful
reform of our health care system in America. (Applause.)

The Vice President and I spent a lot of
time in the campaign -- and by the way, he's doing
great. And what a heck of a selection I made.
(Applause.) As he likes to put it, who said those three
electoral votes in Wyoming don't
matter? (Laughter.) What really matters, he's a
steady hand. He's capable. We said we're going to
make sure that our military remains strong and
ready. (Applause.)

In one of my trips overseas, I went to
Kosovo and I signed another pay raise for the troops. It's
important to make sure those who wear the uniform are well-paid,
well-housed and well-treated. We're doing a much better job
in America of treating our folks right. (Applause.)

We've got big budget increases in
defense. But I also want you to know that ours is an
administration that believes in vision, that there's got to be a
plan. So I've asked Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld to develop
a strategic vision for what our military ought to look like today and
what it ought to look like tomorrow to keep the peace; how we can
remain strong and ready this moment; and as importantly, how we can use
technologies to devise a military that will be harder to find, more
lethal when it moves, easier to move, and that will incorporate the new
technologies so that we don't waste taxpayers' money when it comes to
building the weapons systems of the future.

One of the things that you probably read
about is that I believe that, as we go into the 21st century, we need
to have new strategic relations with some of our old
enemies. I had some fascinating meetings with Vladimir
Putin, the President of Russia. I told him in plain terms --
I said, Mr. President, you don't have anything to fear from the United
States. We're a peaceful nation. We don't view
you as our enemy.

The true threats facing the United States
are threats from terrorist nations, nations that they call rogue
nations, nations that are developing weapons of mass destruction that
may be pointed at us, may be pointed at our friends, the Israelis, or
other allies we have, to hold us hostage, conduct international
blackmail. It's the true threat, Mr. Putin. And
therefore, we need to get rid of those ancient treaties, codified
during a time when we hated each other, so that America can develop the
technologies and defenses necessary to protect ourselves and our allies
from the true threats of the 21st century.

The ABM Treaty is out-moded,
out-dated. It codified a hateful relationship that no longer
exists. We need to move beyond the days of the Cold War and
free this great freedom-loving people to provide protections for
freedom-loving people from all around the world by getting rid of the
ABM Treaty once and for all. (Applause.)

We have told our friends and allies around
the world we will consult with them, and we will. And I told
Mr. Putin, come along with us. It's a chance to set up a new
strategic relationship. And we'll see how it goes. I think
we're making pretty good progress. My point to you is that
we'll remain strong when it comes to our military, and wise when it
comes to our planning, and ready when it comes to the true threats that
face the American people as we head into the 21st
century. (Applause.)

And, finally, I had a fantastic meeting
today with members of the faith community here in New
Mexico. Bishop, thank you for being here today,
sir. And I want to thank Pete for inviting folks to come and
to hear me discuss the philosophy behind a faith-based/community-based
initiative.

We're moving beyond the old welfare
paradigm in America. I gave a speech at Notre Dame and
talked about the fact that another Texas President gave a graduation
speech and talked about a welfare help plan, and that was Lyndon
Johnson, and the Great Society began. And then there was
welfare reform signed by my predecessor that said, people must be
independent in America, and you've got to work. And it had
some successes, it really did. A lot of folks went from welfare to
work. But there's still more work to do. There's
a lot of people in our society who hurt; a lot of people who really
have no hope.

Gosh, I remember one of the times I was at
a juvenile justice facility in Texas, and I was talking about the
American Dream. A little fellow who had been incarcerated
said, what does that mean, what is an American Dream. He doesn't
understand dreaming. He doesn't understand setting goals.

There's a lot of hopelessness, a lot of
addiction, a lot of people lost. And we've got to do
something about it in America. We're too good a people to
allow that to continue. But what government cannot do is
change hearts. Government can't inspire. We're
good for law, we can spend money. But money isn't the only
answer. In many cases, the lost soul needs somebody to say,
I love you -- or to put your arm around you and say, America is meant
for you. We need mentors all across America saying to young
children whose parents may be in prison, for example, I care about you;
I want you to understand somebody cares.

And so one of the most important
initiatives that we're discussing in Washington is how do we unleash
the great passion and compassion of America. How do we
unleash those who have heard the call to love a neighbor like they'd
like to be loved themselves; those not inspired by government,
necessarily, but inspired by a higher calling. The people of
faith who live in every neighborhood across America must not be feared
by our government, but energized and welcomed when it comes to healing
those lost souls. (Applause.)

It's a powerful initiative because it taps
the great strength of America. And the great strength of
America lies in the hearts and souls of our citizenry.

I can't tell you what an honor it is to
represent the people of this country. My dream is for us to
be a more responsible nation -- a nation when the moms and dads of the
world understand their most important job is not their day job, but the
job of loving the children they happen to have brought into this world,
and love them with all their hearts and all their
souls. (Applause.)

But a responsible nation also requires
corporate America to be responsible; it requires all of us to be
responsible to shepherd our resources well. And as
importantly, it requires all of us to ask the question, if we see a
neighbor in need, shall we not -- shall we make sure we don't cross to
the other side of the road? Shouldn't we as a responsible
citizen help a neighbor, and not expect government to do so? Shouldn't
we find out areas where we can help somebody who's crying out for
help? And the answer is, in this country,
absolutely. But responsible societies begin with responsible
leaders.

And that's why I'm so proud to support
Pete Domenici for the United States Senate again. He
understands responsibility. He lives it every single
day. And my hope is that the good people of New Mexico don't
make a terrible error. My hope is the good people of New
Mexico send this good man back to Washington, D.C. with a resounding
victory.